III 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 158 

Condemning the deportation of children from Ukraine to the Russian Federation and the forcible transfer of children within territories of Ukraine 

that are temporarily occupied by Russian forces. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 17, 2023 

Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. GRASSLEY, 

Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. CARDIN, Mrs. SHAHEEN, and Mr. SCOTT of Florida) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning the deportation of children from Ukraine to 

the Russian Federation and the forcible transfer of children within territories of Ukraine that are temporarily 

occupied by Russian forces. 

Whereas, on January 12, 1951, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (commonly known as the ‘‘Genocide Convention’’), of which 

the Russian Federation is a signatory, came into effect; 

Whereas, on February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation 

launched an illegal and unprovoked further invasion of 

Ukraine; 

Whereas, on March 22, 2022, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry announced that the Russian military had forcefully 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•SRES 158 IS 

and illegally kidnapped 2,389 Ukrainian children from 

temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine; 

Whereas forcibly transferring children of one group to another group is a violation of Article II(e) of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of 

Genocide, adopted and opened for signature in 1948 and 

entered into force in 1951 (commonly known as the 

‘‘Genocide Convention’’); 

Whereas the unlawful deportation or transfer of people constitutes a breach of Article 147 of the Convention (IV) 

relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of 

War, done at Geneva August 12, 1949 (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Fourth Geneva Convention’’); 

Whereas, Maria Lvova-Belova, Children’s Rights Commissioner for the President of Russia, admitted to kidnapping Ukrainian children and facilitating forced adoptions 

to Russian families; 

Whereas Ukrainian authorities have stated that a number of 

the kidnapped Ukrainian children have families who remain in Ukraine, but have been separated due to the 

Russian invasion; 

Whereas, on May 30, 2022, the President of the Russian 

Federation, Vladimir Putin, signed a decree simplifying 

the procedure of obtaining Russian citizenship for 

Ukrainian orphans and children without parental care, 

thereby expediting the process of illegal adoption of deported Ukrainian children by Russian families; 

Whereas, on June 2, 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr 

Zelenskyy stated that 200,000 children are among the 

Ukrainians who have been forcefully resettled in Russia; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•SRES 158 IS 

Whereas, on June 16, 2022, Russian authorities announced 

that children born in occupied Ukrainian territories after 

the February 24, 2022, invasion will be deemed Russian 

citizens; 

Whereas, on July 11, 2022, United Nations Secretary General Anto ́nio Guterres ordered an investigation into the 

deaths and injuries of Ukrainian children; 

Whereas, on July 13, 2022, Secretary of State Antony J. 

Blinken issued a statement calling upon Russia to ‘‘immediately halt its systemic filtration operations in 

Ukraine’’, which have caused the disappearance, detention, or forcible deportation of between 900,000 and 

1,600,000 Ukrainians (approximately 260,000 of whom 

are children); 

Whereas, on December 5, 2022, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, announced that at least 2,800,000 Ukrainians have been 

deported to Russia; 

Whereas, on March 17, 2023, the International Criminal 

Court issued warrants of arrest, relating to the war 

crimes described in subsections (a)(vii) and (b)(viii) of 

section 2 of article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, for— 

(1) Vladimir Putin, for— 

(A) the unlawful deportation of population 

(children); and 

(B) the unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian 

Federation; and 

(2) Maria Lvova-Belova, Presidential Commissioner 

for Children’s Rights in Russia, for— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•SRES 158 IS 

(A) the unlawful deportation of population 

(children); and 

(B) the unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian 

Federation; and 

Whereas, as of March 27, 2023, the official platform ‘‘Children of War’’, which was created by the Ministry of Reintegration and the National Information Bureau on behalf of the Office of the President of Ukraine reported 

that— 

(1) at least 465 Ukrainian children have been killed 

and 942 Ukrainian children have been wounded since 

Russia’s renewed invasion of Ukraine began; and 

(2) there has been 16,207 verified cases of Ukrainian children being deported to Russia out of a possible 

744,000 cases: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) holds the Government of the Russian Fed3 eration, under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, re4 sponsible for the wrongful and illegal kidnapping of 

5 children from Ukraine and officially condemns these 

6 actions in the strongest terms; 

7 (2) declares that the facilitation of illegal adop8 tions is contrary to Russia’s obligations under the 

9 Genocide Convention and amounts to genocide; 

10 (3) claims that the Russian Federation is at11 tempting to wipe out a generation of Ukrainian chil12 dren, thereby crippling Ukraine’s ability to nurture 

13 the next generation of Ukrainian citizens and leadVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR158.IS SR158

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•SRES 158 IS 

1 ers and to rebuild their country after Russia’s 

2 unprovoked war, with the purpose of demolishing 

3 Ukraine’s unique language, culture, history, and 

4 identity; and 

5 (4) asserts that the invasion of Ukraine by the 

6 Russian Federation has significantly increased the 

7 risks of children being exposed to human trafficking 

8 and exploitation, child labor, gender-based violence, 

9 hunger, injury, trauma, deprivation of education and 

10 shelter, and death. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS